Two returnees from Brazil, Ofoma Sunday and Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, have allegedly excreted a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine they ingested after days in observatory custody.
This followed their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
A statement in Abuja on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said one of the suspects, 46-year-old Ofoma, was arrested on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport upon his arrival from Laos, Brazil, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
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According to him, he was taken for a body scan, which confirmed the ingestion of illicit drugs.
He said the suspect had left Nigeria for Brazil on September 3 to courier the consignment to Lagos for a reward of $2,500 upon successful delivery.
“A swift follow-up operation was conducted at Eliata Hotel in the Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos where Ofoma was instructed to meet Nweke Jude Chuckwudi, who was designated to oversee the excretion of the drugs at the hotel and recover them,” he added.
He said the 55-year-old Nweke was arrested in the process, adding that a total of 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilograms were egested in eight excretions by Ofoma.
Babafemi said another Brazil returnee, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu, was arrested at the Lagos airport during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa on Friday, September 19.
According to him, he was taken for a body scan, which confirmed illicit drug insertion. “Under excretion observation, Ukachukwu expelled five big wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.
“In his statement, he confessed to having bought nine wraps of the Class A drug in Brazil and inserted all into his anus, a process he claimed took him nearly two hours. During his transit through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he said he began to experience severe anal pain and decided to remove the wraps from his body. He stated that in an attempt to meet up with his connecting flight to Nigeria, he could only manage to reinsert seven wraps, after which he flushed the remaining two wraps in a toilet,” Babafemi added.
He said the suspect revealed that while on board his flight to Nigeria, he felt pressed and uncomfortable, which compelled him to use the lavatory. During the process, he expelled an additional two wraps, leaving him with only five wraps in his anus.
“He claimed to have been in the clothing business before traveling to Brazil in 2017. In 2020, he moved to the United States, where he was arrested for an immigration offence and was detained for over a year before being deported to Nigeria in 2022. In March 2025, he returned to Brazil, where he currently works, having already obtained a Brazilian residence permit,” Babafemi said in the statement.
